Therapeutic potential of mulberry (Morus alba L.) byproducts for cardiovascular diseases

Besides mulberry fruit, mulberry (Morus alba L.) has many byproducts, including leaves, branches, and roots. Although these byproducts have long been used as traditional Chinese medicine, their use is limited mainly to rheumatism, diabetes, arthritis. These natural products have a variety of bioactive ingredients, including flavonoids, alkaloids, polysaccharides, with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering and other biological functions. This review introduces the bioactive ingredients of mulberry leaves, branches, and roots and discusses their potential in alleviating cardiovascular diseases from antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, lipid regulation, blood glucose regulation, vascular protection and other aspects.